How to Draw Caricatures

Introduction

Caricature is a cartoon version of a real face. The key to successful caricatures is the ability to notice people’s distinctive features and having no fear to exaggerate them. A little bit of detailing, proper colors, and a good eye for distinctive features will help you draw a great caricature. Drawing caricatures is a lot of fun for both the artist and the model, and you can learn how to do it easily by following our step-by-step guide. Get your crayons ready cause here we go.

Analyze the picture

Take a look at the photo (if you are drawing from photo) or at the person you are going to draw and analyze his/her appearance. Does he or she have any distinctive features? Well, everyone does, and you just need to see them clearly. Thick lips, mimic wrinkles, high forehead, glasses, big ears, curly hair – all these things are exactly what make the caricature resemble a real person.

2

Draw the oval of the face

Usually, caricatures are drawn either in a “view from above” or “view from below” fashion. This is just how they look funnier.

Don’t hesitate to exaggerate the shape of the face: if your model has a square face, feel free to make almost a perfect square. If the model has big eyes and small mouth, make the upper part of the face larger than the lower part to have some extra space for those exaggerated eyes.

3

Draw the eyes

Pay attention to the disposition of the eyes on the face: probably they are wide apart or deep-set. Reflect these peculiarities on your picture.

4

Draw the mouth

You can draw the person smiling or sad depending on the character of the model. However, caricatures are all about fun, so usually people draw smiling faces. Also, don’t hesitate do detail the teeth and tongue.

5

Draw the body

Drawing body isn’t necessary if you draw a caricature, but you can go for it if you want. You can draw a body much smaller than the head, exaggerate its distinctive features, or add subjects that characterize the model, for example, if you are drawing a musician, feel free to add the guitar or draw him performing on the stage.

6

Finish the caricature

Add some wrinkles around the mouth, blinks, detail the hair and eyebrows, and complete the image by coloring it.

Don’t offend people

There are some things that people won’t appreciate. Nobody’s perfect, but your drawing their pimples, swollen eyes, or bad teeth in details can offend them. Think twice if a funny picture is worth losing a friend.

Don’t make the image too exaggerated

It will result in model’s becoming unrecognizable. This is a portrait after all, and you still want to keep it close to the real face.

Video

Conclusion

Drawing caricatures is easier than drawing regular portraits: you don’t have to pay attention to each and every detail, waste a lot of time on palette decisions, or strive for a natural look. However, drawing caricatures also require some skill and can be pretty time consuming. With these tips, you will be able to draw a fancy caricature in as little as 20-30 minutes.